The Rising Bubble Theory of Big Data Analytics

The big data analytics has gained much importance in recent times. The concept of analyzing large data sets is not new. Astronomers in olden days used large observational data to predict the planetary movements. Even our forefathers used years of their experience for devising better ways of doing things. If we look through our history, evolution of modern medicine, advancement in space research, industrial revolution, and financial markets; data has played a key role. The only difference as compared to recent times is the speed by which the data got processed, stored, and analyzed.

With the availability of high computing and cheaper data storage resources, the time of processing the information has gone down drastically. What took years of experience and multitudes of human effort, now machines can do it in split of a second. Super computers are breaking the barriers of computing power day after day.Classic example is of weather forecasting. Statistical modelling of data and using the computational power of modern machines, today we can predict weather with an hourly accuracy.

The concept of big data analytics has also spread in financial markets to predict the stock prices based on thousands of parameters. Financial models that can predict the economies of countries. We can find examples of big data analytics in any field of modern civilization. Whether its medicine, astronomy, finance, retail, robotics or any other science known to man, data has played a major role. It's not only the time aspect but the granularity of data that determines the richness of information it brings.

The Rising Bubble Theory of Big Data Analytics is a step towards understanding the data based on its movement through various layers of an enterprise. It is based on the analogy to the bubble generated at the base of an ocean and the journey it makes to reach the surface coalescing with other bubbles, disintegrating into multiple bubbles, or getting blocked by various obstructions in the turbulent waters. The data can take multiple paths based on varied applications in an enterprise. The granularity of data changes as it moves through the various layers of applications. The objective is to tap the data in its most granular form for minimizing the time for its analysis. The data undergoes losses due to filtering, standardization and Transformation process as it percolates through the different application layers. The time aspect refers to the transport mechanism or channels used to port data from its source to its destination. When we combine the analysis of data granularity and time aspects of it movement we can understand the value that it brings.

Data Value (dv) Granularity (g) /Time (t)

Data granularity can be associated to data depth linked to its data sources. Granularity of the data increases as we move closer to the data sources. At times due to complex nature of the proprietary data producers, it becomes difficult to analyze the data. The data need to be transformed into a more standard format before it can be interpreted into a meaningful information. Tapping this data as early in its journey can add great value for the business.

Data can move both horizontally or vertically. The horizontal movement involves data replication while vertical movement involves aggregation and further data synthesis.